AT&T boasts nearly 1.5 million DirecTV subscribers, with next-gen platform on the way

DirecTV Now added some 312,000 video subscriptions in the first three months of 2018, its parent company, AT&T, announced this week. That brings the total number of DirecTV Now subscriptions to nearly 1.5 million, the company said. Some 49,000 of those 312,000 subscribers were on "free or substantially free trials," AT&T said.

In addition, AT&T confirmed that the next major iteration of DirecTV Now — which should include a cloud-based DVR service — is on track for release sometime in the second quarter. (That means anytime by the end of June.)

Lack of DVR has been a big thorn in the side of DirecTV Now, which so far has ceded that space to Sling (which has a $5-a-month DVR option), PlayStation Vue and YouTube TV.